Staff Members: State Attorney Lowering Morale

May 21, 1985|By Leslie Kemp of The Sentinel Staff

SANFORD — With a hard-fought election victory five months behind him, Seminole- Brevard State Attorney Norman Wolfinger is facing the challenge of restructuring his office -- a task that has drawn criticism by staff members and created low employee morale.

At the same time, Wolfinger is mending fences with law enforcement officials who criticized the previous state attorney, citing a lack of communication and poor prosecution practices.

Since January in the Seminole office five prosecutors -- one-fourth of the attorney staff -- have resigned or announced their intentions to leave; three of four misdemeanor staff secretaries quit; and staff members are grumbling about an increase in paperwork and a bureaucratic managerial system. Others complain about the firing of a 12-year investigator and a large reduction in maternity leave benefits.

Wolfinger said he isn't surprised by the discontent and said it often accompanies administration changes. He said the Seminole situation is worsened because the office had little supervision from former State Attorney Douglas Cheshire, and employees are resisting Wolfinger's tighter reins.

Several state attorney's employees, who asked not to be identified, have expressed concern about problems that have caused the low morale. Wolfinger said he is aware of the complaints and expects morale problems to ease by the end of the year.

''It's going to take time until they understand that there's reasons for why things are done,'' he said.

In the meantime, Wolfinger is implementing new programs promised during last year's campaign and working to improve prosecutor-police relations.

''I'm satisfied that we're doing very well,'' he said last week. ''But we've still got a long way to go.''

Staff grumblings have increased in the past month with the resignations of four secretaries and the May 3 dismissal of Dan Lawrence, a 12-year investigator who said he was told he wasn't a ''team player.'' Lawrence's firing surprised a number of people, including some defense attorneys who complained to Wolfinger.

Sanford attorney Jack Bridges, a Wolfinger supporter, said he was disappointed by the dismissal. He said Lawrence has a good professional reputation but added, Wolfinger ''isn't going to tell me how to run my office and I'm not going to tell him how to run his office.''

Rumors also abounded that Lawrence was fired to satisfy law enforcement officials who supported Wolfinger's campaign.

Longwood Police Chief Greg Manning said he asked Wolfinger last year to evaluate Lawrence. ''A lot of my people felt he Lawrence had a negative attitude toward law enforcement,'' Manning said.

Wolfinger said his decision wasn't influenced by police. ''I felt things weren't going like I wanted them to go investigationwise,'' he said, declining to list specific reasons or incidents that led to the dismissal.

The biggest controversy, Wolfinger said, involves his change in maternity leave benefits. After consulting with area industries, Wolfinger changed the amount of leave from up to six months to a maximum of 60 days. A six-month leave can create understaffing because the position can't be filled, he said. He said that when he took office he had six women ready to take maternity leaves.

Wolfinger said he is not concerned by the loss of attorneys and said there always is a large turnover in prosecution and public defender offices -- especially with new leadership.

''With a change of administration, you expect people to leave and you welcome it,'' he said. ''If you're going to be successful then you want people who want to work with you to be there.''

Wolfinger said he has boosted secretarial salaries, increased vacation time and set a policy that allows employees to use some of their sick days to tend to ill children.

Since January he has started four new programs: a worthless check division in Seminole; prosecutor training sessions and seminars; an information booklet for victims and witnesses; and an intake division where experienced attorneys decide what charges will be prosecuted. He also plans an employee manual.

Wolfinger also is working to improve prosecutor-police communications -- a strained relationship that led police to oppose Cheshire. As a result of some meetings with police, prosecutors are reviewing some old criminal cases, one of which resulted in a murder arrest earlier this year.

Local law enforcement officials give Wolfinger high marks for his new administration. They also praise his recent appointment of Ron Seibert, formerly with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's local office, as chief investigator in charge of non-attorney Seminole staff.

''The attitude he reflects of cooperation is filtering down through the agency he's responsible for,'' said Manning, who vigorously opposed Cheshire. ''At the present time, I think that he's made a lot of good effort -- and it's a two-way street -- to open a line of communications,'' said Seminole Sheriff John Polk. ''There are a lot better feelings within the state attorney's office for all law enforcement than there were before.''

''The feeling of the boss filters down,'' Polk said. ''I think in time Wolfinger will be one of the best state attorneys in Florida.''